Volkswagen to Create UK’s Biggest EV Charge Network

Volkswagen is set to create the largest EV charging network in the UK in partnership with a supermarket chain.

Retail giant Tesco and EV charger provider Pod Point will roll out 2,400 charging bays that are set to be created at the supermarket chain’s 600 retail sites with service station facilities nationwide by 2020.

Customers will be able to charge their electric cars using a standard 7kW fast charger for free, or benefit from the use of a rapid 50 kW charger for an extra cost in line with the market rate. The move synchronizes with the introduction of VW’s ID. family of all-electric models, based on the group’s MEB electric platform, which will begin coming to the UK market next year in the shape of the ID. hatch – a Golf-sized model that will be followed from 2020 by production versions of the ID. Buzz people carrier and ID. Crozz crossover utility vehicle.

Geraldine Ingham, head of marketing at VW UK, said: “Working with these partners to provide such an extensive network of EV chargers should leave no one in any doubt about the Volkswagen brand’s wholehearted commitment to an electric future.”

Separately, Hitachi announced UK energy regulator Ofgem had approved it to carry out what it claimed would be “the world’s biggest trial of commercial EVs”. The trial will involve 3,000 EVs made by Uber, Centrica, and other operators, and Hitachi is to cooperate on it with electricity distributors UK Power Networks and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks. The company claims it will be “intentionally vehicle agnostic and include depot, home, and on-the-road charging scenarios”.

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in London. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_ Additional reporting for this story was provided by Greg Hyde.

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